Chatting about GOMI

So as some of you may or may not know (I know at least the person who began the rant does) I was featured on GOMI (Get off my internets).  I thought long and hard if I would even address the posts or ignore but I decided once I had some time to zone out on the airplane I would.  I wanted to demyth some of the things that were said and really confess something that I have pretty much kept on the downlow since I’ve been blogging.

I drink enough coffee to kill a horse.  I post and drink a lot of coffee and drink about 48 ounces of regular daily.  I’m not sure if that was more/less than what people thought but that is about it.  I used to drink a lot more, but switched over to decaf later at night so I can still enjoy the flavour.  Mostly to keep warm (Upstate is cold as shizzz).

I am exercise obsessed.  Okay obviously this is true and I do not deny that I love to exercise.  I love exercising, running and when I’m injured, I enjoy ellipticalling to maintain my fitness.  The problem is that my blog is associated with a lot of blogs that are “casual” running to maintain weight or running for fun type of blogs.  WHICH IS TOTALLY FINE!  Props to you if you like running to keep weight off but that isn’t why I run.

For me, I was a collegiate runner, and while 70-90m seems like a lot when you compare it to someone casually running in the collegiate world it’s not.  I know I am NOT an elite runner, but one day I really hope to be.  Maybe it will happen, maybe not.  I can 100% guarantee you that across many colleges and states many females who were targeting the same goal pace (for nationals) were running 70-90 miles weekly.  My coach (fully qualified in EVERY regard) was carefully monitoring my miles, pace, time, how I felt ect and I was running extremely well.  I peeked when I was supposed to and my legs felt like led when they were supposed to.  Everything was carefully tracked and monitored.

When my cyst ordeal occurred, I never had a stress fracture.  While crosstraining if I felt pain, I would have stopped.  I didn’t train through my stress fracture last year.  I posted multiple blog entries about my injury last week so I don’t think I need to go into details there.  My cyst was not running related and because there were essentially a golf ball in my heal (which is a lot of extra crap) it put tension on my plantar fascia and caused the muscle to just rip slightly off the bone and a minute crack.  Humor me and ball your hand into a fist stick it on the arch of your foot and imagine that being centrally located in your heal because blood decided for no apparent reason to clot there.  Then you can see what I went through. It had nothing to do with running.  The pain from my cyst was the same level weather I was sitting, standing, walking, skipping or crab walking. That is how I was able to simulate my elliptical workouts with running.  If I had been hurting during anything, I wouldn’t do it.

I cross trained through my injury because I went from running 1-2 hours daily to doing nothing when I was still physically able.  When asked if I was up to simulating my running with ellipticalling, I jumped at the chance to maintain my base for as long as possible.  And you know what?  It clearly worked from my results of my final cross country race.

I am underweight because I don’t eat enough.  I’m not underweight and I eat plenty.  I weight 130 pounds and I’m 5’7.

I am interning 37 weekly hours to meet the last requirement of my major.  For health at my college, you have to spend your final semester interning in something you are really interested in.  That is where I’m at now in a brand new environment (somewhat) working 37 hours weekly.  I switched majors (from a double math and education major) senior year so I needed an extra semester to finish my public health major (and I kept a math minor since I had that).  I have no idea where or what I’m doing after I’m done in a few weeks.  I know what I would like to do, but we all have dreams.

Leading my too my last point.  This is something I’ve never said point blank on the blog and I’m a bit nervous to put it out there but I feel like it will really put everything into context (part of the reason I “sidestepped” nutrition questions…because I was not ready to share that with the world).  I’m not looking for sympathy but truly just stating the facts I’ve come to terms with. I’m diabetic.  I have genetic diabetes which is partially the reason I started running.  First and foremost, running and eating relatively healthy while regulating my blood sugars has caused me to be able to say I’m in the top 5% of people that CAN and hopefully WILL grow out of it.  When I refer to any medical issues the end of freshman year of college and sophomore year, it was learning that I needed to watch what I ate or I was going to get sick.  No longer were the days I could binge drink without reaping terrible effects (please I was a freshman in college), eat crap 100% of the time.  As a college freshman, I wasn’t any healthier than a typical freshman. I ate all three meals on campus and knew next to little about nutrition.  My healthy living staples were remembering to eat breakfast and going to swim practice to have a night time social life.  When I found out freshman year (after being sick all the time) that I was going to have to start monitoring my blood sugars and having an extra burden on top of college, it set me into a tizzy. I had to work harder then others and live a lot healthier, it was really eye opening. I really just didn’t want to think about my life long future and wanted to continue my college lifestyle that I had known to love. It eventually lead to depression which led me running.  Since that was nearly 4 years ago (life before blogging), I’ve since learned how to cope really well and know when my blood sugars are out of synch and what to do when that happens.  I can honestly say that I’m probably half way in the clearing and it’s just yet another way that shows me hard work pays off.

This was somewhat hard for me to post and it’s been sitting on my desktop that last few hours while I decided if I wanted too.  If you have anymore questions, please feel free to ask/leave them here or email me.  (lolzthatswim@gmail.com)

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69 Comments

  1. I’m sad that online bullies exist; however, I’m proud that you stood up for yourself. It’s a sad world when you have to share your private life with those who feel the need to make up fodder at your expense for their own self fulfillment. You are strong. You are on the right path Hollie. Smile sunshine.

    1. Thanks Tammi and I totally agree, it’s so sad to have to defend yourself but it is what it is I guess. I think what was most bothersome is it was def someone who visits and reads my blog on the regular to write it.

  2. yeah i dont really blog/comment ever, but i’m also a college athlete (rowing) and just wanted to say that i don’t think what you’re doing is crazy by any means. we practice twice a day, etc. its just a different world and a lot of people will never understand it. i really don’t think most have it in them mentally and/or physically to live that kind of lifestyle. its called time management and motivation. so, props to you and i hope what was said doesn’t bother you too much.

    1. Exactly, it is very hard for me to explain being a collegiate athlete to someone who has never been one. It is such a huge difference. Anyways, thanks Emily for stopping by, it means a lot!

  3. Holy cow, I can’t believe this type of bullying exists. Sure, cyber bulling is nothing new, but I didn’t realize it trickled over to the world of healthy living blogs. Stick to your guns, Hollie. You have a good head on your shoulders, and you know your body better than anyone else.

  4. I had never heard of that website but I’m actually really bothered by it. I guess whoever started that website hasn’t heard of the number of suicides that have occurred in recent years due to bullying, particularly of the cyber variety. I think it’s great that you’re standing up for yourself. I’ve been reading your blog for over a year now (even though I just started mine/commenting a month ago) and I don’t feel like anything you are being criticized for is accurate in the least bit. Everything you talk about seems relevant and honestly, pretty inspiring (especially coming from someone who just made the switch from swimming to running this year). As an athlete, everything you do makes sense to me food/exercise-wise, and as long as you’re happy and healthy, that’s all that matters!

  5. People ripping on your for 70-90 mpw are obviously ignorant about how college-level athletes train. I worked out 20 hours/week in college because I wanted to be a fast swimmer, it had nothing with trying to be skinny (obviously, since part of that workout time was lifting heavy shit in the gym).

    Second, what you have to do for diabetes is very similar to what I have to do for PCOS, and people are always like “ZOMG EATING DISORDER” even though it’s what my doctor told me what to do, just because I’m not technically overweight. It’s like people think there is no reason to follow a specific diet, except to lose weight. Nevermind that there might be very real health reasons. Annoying.

    And finally, I think it is great you are talking about diabetes. Plenty of other people have diabetes or similar medical problems and it is good to know there are others out there and that we can be a supportive bunch of alpacas together.

    P.S. Keep being awesome.

    1. Exactly and I think of anyone you understand that. I’m not training to lose weight and it isn’t if I don’t take rest days ever…but hen you train smartly you also don’t need them as often. Thank you.

  6. F THAT STUPID WEBSITE. sorry this made me mad. You are so much more balanced or healthy than the average blogger out there. heck, i could rant off names of bloggers who are HEALTH COACHES that give terrible information and do not practice what they preach. gosh I am flipping mad right now as you can tell. I would never say you are underweight, under eating or over exercising. You are a kick ass athlete, it is just where you are. I had teammates who did what you do because they were that good. Sorry to be all taboo but HATERS GONNA HATE.

    1. Thank you! I mean I will admit I was upset for a second at first but then I realized, they are very ignorant in everything. Sadly, it’s def someone who has been following my blog for a while (and probably comments) which is in reality the worst part.

  7. I didn’t even know sites like that existed. I try to live in oblivious happy land online because let’s face it, real life ain’t always that happy. Girl, don’t even dignify that crap by thinking about it another second.

    It’s great that you’re taking the important steps to regulate your diabetes (which, duh, you already knew because it’s your body). That cannot be easy, just like it can’t be easy to discuss it with the world! Thanks for sharing your life with us.

    1. I live in my oblivious land 99.9% of the time as well LOL! Someone sent me the link…it was upsetting at first but I think the fact is people that are commenting/posting are very ignorant of collegiate training.

  8. I can’t believe you were on there. I’ll admit that some of the bloggers featured on there do need a wake up call, but you my dear are NOT one of them. You are an athlete – you look and train like an athlete. there is no way you could run 90 miles a week and be underweight. I’m sorry but it really pisses me off that you were on there. I usually max at 75 miles per week – i know this isn’t normal but its what I love doing. Its only an issue if it gets in the way of your daily life.

  9. I have always found your blog so refreshing. You are, plain and simple, a “normal” college athlete, girl, and human being. People are so quick to assume the worst intentions behind food and exercise choices, when they do not know the whole story. At all. Even with your extensive training and eating healthy, I think you still come across as totally level-headed. Your heart and mind are clearly in the right place, and people who see it otherwise are just being too quick to judge. I totally relate to viewing exercise not as a chore or a disorder, but as a healthy escape, a natural way to ease conditions such as depression. I think you handled this GOMI business with nothing but class and honesty, and deserve all the respect in the world for it.

  10. Holly – i know that GOMI site. I read some of the entries sometimes, because it’s so bad it’s almost addictive. I saw the posting about you, and, reading your blog for about 8 months now, I was disgusted at what they were saying. it’s almost like they did not even read your blog. They don’t get it. At all. Your blog, and Jessica’s (almost over now), and Nicole’s, and Lisa Lately, are the blogs I read every day, because they are real. I need real and honest and plain truth. THANK YOU. Love your individuality.

  11. I am just appaled that these things exist. Seriously appalled. Are we in high school??? actually more like middle school. Not that you need my validation but you are doing what collegiate athletes do!!! in college my former partying roommates could never understand why I did anything that I did..but they just didn’t understand that side of my life and that’s fine…to each their own! i still love your blog and love everything about your attitude girl. keep smiling. as many have said Haters gonna hate xoxo

  12. Thank you for opening up! I can’t believe that someone put you on that site! Clearly, they need to get a new hobby. I do have one question — what type of test/exam did you have to figure out that you have diabetes? I’ve had a lot of blood tests over the years because I am prone to getting lightheaded and passing out randomly, but they’ve never checked my blood sugar levels. Just curious!

    1. Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you! I actually went through a very long period of waiting because they had absolutely no clue. First they thought it was allergic reactions, as well as gluten problems. Then finally after getting a few blood tests done (one involved fasting to test my sugar levels) they figured it out!

  13. You already know that I think what was written is rubbish and that I think you are healthy, talented, and inspiring so I won’t rehash that. I will say, my niece-in-law (I don’t care if that is not a real term lol)…was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 4 (she just turned 9). She had an extremely tough time in the beginning and struggled a lot when she got to school. She at times still struggles with this disease (she has the pump) as kids sometimes treat her differently and sometimes her levels still get way off. Anyway, for her..it’s basically all she’s known since she was so little and hopefully she will continue the healthy lifestyle we instill in her at this young age. I am sorry it happened to you at a milestone in your life (college) as you were obviously used to a lifestyle and food options and such for a long time and to suddenly alter that completely…must have been extraordinarily difficult. I’m happy to see you are making progress and I do hope your healthy lifestyle will get you out of it. much more education and awareness needs be paid to this disease.

  14. Echoing the first commenter, kudos to you for standing up, your training through all of your setbacks is completely insipring!
    Keep up the awesomeness, I your posts rock my socks! 🙂

  15. *left eye twitch* I read GOMI every once in a while, and I honestly couldn’t believe when I saw you on there – you’re one of the most real and down to earth bloggers that I’ve ever come across, and I hate it when people talk sh*t out of ignorance. Don’t let it get to you, girl… I know it’s hard to hear that kind of stuff, but just remember that they don’t know the whole story – you do – and as long as you know what you’re doing is right and you’re feeling good, that’s all that matters <3 <3

  16. I think you are such a bigger person Hollie. Kailey showed me GOMI this summer and while I see why people find it entertaining, I think it is wrong. It is wrong to talk about people period. And these people do not know anyone’s full stories. They may or may not realize that any words hurt not matter if they come from the mouth or the keyboard. That site is awful and harmful, thank you for addressing how it was wrong to you.

    Also thank you for sharing this extremely personal portion of your life. My cousin was just diagnosed with diabetes and now I am beginning to look more into research on it. If you have any suggestions for her, I would love to be able to pass on the knowledge.

    1. That means a lot thanks girl! Honestly, when I started cutting out sugar, alcohol, and other very sugary items, ‘I noticed a huge difference. My blood sugars were not on a rollar coaster that they had been and then when I actually started regularly exercising I saw even more changes.

  17. wow. Just wow. Being new to this blogging thing, I had NO idea there was such awful websites like that. Are you kidding me?? I’m so genuinely shocked. I’m one of those that don’t care what other people blog about – if I don’t like it, there’s a little “x” on the top right of the screen that I can exercise quite easily. I just never understand people who take the time to read , comment, hate on each other. Whatever happened to being kind to one another?
    You’re (clearly) a very strong person. And, I’ve only just started reading you a few weeks ago, and I absolutely love it.

    Keep smiling.

    1. My thoughts exactly! I don’t read blogs I’m not interested and I don’t care enough to pry into peoples lives. If they don’t want to share it, I’m not devastated LOL.

  18. soo we’ve talked about this before but it is SO frustrating to hear negative comments by people who don’t understand higher level training. if you were just training for general fitness – yeah, what we do is a little excessive. but we’re hoping for more than that so we step up our training. it also drives me nuts when people say you are underweight or don’t eat enough.. or the other thing that gets me is “you run so much you can eat whatever you want” – while its true yeah I can eat more calories and I don’t “get fat” from eating ice cream now and then, i’m not going to eat an unhealthy diet just because i burn a lot of calories.. if anything i eat healthier so my body feels better while i am working out. high level training and low bmi DO NOT imply eating disorder or excessive exercising. you are amazing, dedicated, and powerful!! keep on keepin on girl 🙂

    1. Oh my gosh. That is seriously my biggest pet peeve too. If I ate whatever I wanted while I ran, I’d feel like crap. I enjoy having treats but I’m not going to binge eat on McDonalds everyday you know? How on Earth would that help running

  19. I’m so lucky to never have been featured on GOMI and it really really annoys me that you were. A lot of the blogs on there that they rant about seem very fake and what not, but I’ve always known your blog was truthful and that you’re a super talented athlete. It’s frustrating that people don’t understand that you have a coach and are competing at the collegiate level. It’s not like you’re doing this to burn calories… because that’s a hella lot of calories to burn just for shits and giggles. Honestly though you can’t take their comments seriously. If people are gonna spend their day gossiping about blogs they need to reevaluate where they are in life because that’s really sad.

  20. Girl, you’re awesome. You’re one of my favorite bloggers and one of the few that I read regularly (even though I don’t comment as often as I ought to). Don’t take GOMI personally, just take it as a complement – you’re a big enough deal that random strangers are wasting their time being rude about you! Whether it’s jealousy or boredom or whatever else that’s motivating it on their end, it’s free publicity for your blog and proof that you’re on the radar 🙂

  21. Hmm, I guess I’m in the minority here because I don’t actually think GOMI is a ‘bad’ site – often there are some really significant points made over there that mean bloggers can’t just get away with lying about all kinds of sh*t and then moderating the Hell out of their comments. GOMI allows voices of dissent to be heard – I spend far too much time reading it, but at the same time I completely disagree with the idea that it’s ‘cyber-bullying.’

    Where GOMI falls down though, is if there are gaps in the through-line of a blog, people tend to go crazy with assumptions and fill in said gaps with their own version of ‘the Truth.’ And then that contructed truth very quickly becomes the absolute Truth. Unfortunately this seems like what’s happened to you – I saw your thread but thought ‘eh, it’ll quickly die down’ simply because there just isn’t much people can snark on when it comes to you and your blog. If I’m told I’m exercise obsessed I tend to just shrug my shoulders and say ‘so what?’ There are far worse addictions in the world but they don’t seem subject to anywhere near as much judgement – I also agree that people don’t tend to understand high volume runners. Rose Runner was subject to negative feedback JUST for running a 100-mile week. Because clearly doing that makes you some kind of baby killer.

    I admire the way you’ve managed your diabetes – I’ve had problems with pre-diabetes and I’ll need to be retested soon. So I hope my efforts haven’t been for nothing. Oh, and with regard to you keeping up a base level of fitness on the elliptical, elites do that. They don’t just sit on their arse under the guise of ‘letting things heal’ – I know I go on and on about Paula Radcliffe but through every injury she continued on the arc trainer or elliptical so she wouldn’t lose all of her fitness. Who wants their cardiovascular system to be shot to sh*t when they eventually get back to running? I really don’t understand the whole ‘rest is ALWAYS NECESSARY’ movement.

    1. I actually agree with you, Jess. The medium of GOMI, the existence of the site – is simply a place for people to discuss their thoughts on bloggers. Given that many bloggers, though not Hollie, market themselves as shining examples of healthy living and make a good deal of money doing so, it is reasonable for there to be a venue for people to question what they write. Since many of them strictly moderate their comments, it cannot be done on the blogs themselves, so GOMI offers a place to do so.

      However, I do not agree with what most of the people there posted about Hollie, for the reasons I said above – they think she has an exercise addiction (wrong, she’s a high-level athlete training appropriately), they think she’s on a restrictive diet to lose weight (wrong, it’s low carb to manage diabetes PER HER DOCTOR’S ORDERS). The ignorance was what got me irritated, not the fact that people were talking on GOMI.

    2. Exactly and your approach is what I full agree with. I don’t think every post in there is far from the truth at all. I also don’t think people are posting because they are jealous, I think my blog often gets mistaken as a hmmm exercise is fun type of blog and I do think it’s fun but I also want to do something more then a casual runner.

      I’ve read several threads and though, couldn’t agree more but I’ve also read several threads that I’m like…oh my stars.

  22. Clearly the only site that the internet would be better without is gomi. I won’t even go read what they’ve posted. I know a few other people that were honored with a post. Absolutely ridiculous.

    As to your response, very clear and honest, just like every other post I’ve read from you. Your paragraph on diabetes is tough; I can see why you hesitated posting it. I think it’s only part of your story though and while you of course don’t post everything on your blog, that’s something people can take in a positive light and complete the picture of who you are and why you live a certain lifestyle. Good work on fighting this and hopefully you’ll be in the clear soon enough. Let’s hope this site goes away for good though!

    1. I apologize Ellie for my grammatical error, but thank you for correcting me. Once I have time I’ll fix it just for you. I am glad, however, you read the entire post to pick up some errors.

      1. The pain from my cyst was the same level weather I was sitting, standing, walking, skipping or crab walking.

        *whether*

      2. Leading my too my last point.

        Hmmm…leading to my last point? There’s a difference between “to” and “too”. Did you know that? I can’t explain why you have “my” in their twice. Can you?

    2. Ellie,

      I’m not sure what I did to bother or offend you to the point you feel the need to continue to harass me on my blog. If you would please let me know so I can prevent bothering you to this degree again.

      1. Ellie, can we get some perspective here? This is a non-professional, non-monetized blog that Hollie writes for personal enrichment. Not a peer-reviewed, fact-checked piece of work. She writes this when she has time, and occasional lapses in grammatical perfection slip in. It happens to me on my blog, which of course is not nearly as well-written as the work that I get paid well over six figures for. Imagine that.

        Oh, and if your point is to try to question Hollie’s education, I dare you to go review my blog for typos (which are no doubt there) and then question my intelligence and education. Because, my dear, I have three fucking degrees from MIT. Top that.

    3. ellie, do YOU know the difference between “their” and “there”? apparently not.

  23. I am a regular reader of your blog. I adore your attitude and your commitment to training. I love checking in with you on a daily basis and I never thought that you might have any issues with over-exercise or food. You are a seriously talented athlete. You train and fuel like you are. I read GOMI and in my opinion you are NOT a GOMI candidate! Don’t let this get you down. Oh, I kind of figured you are diabetic. Finally, I just want to say that I think you are fantastic.

  24. Oh my gosh, I have SO much to say to this post. First of all a big fat fuck off to GOMI, seriously..WHAT is the point of this pathetic website. I HATE IT!! I think you have so much to be admired for addressing their attacks and I am so glad you did!!

    I also admire your running, you run A LOT yes, but I think your reasons are perfect. Some people were born you run..you happen to be one of them. KEEP running, and keep doing what makes you happy. You work hard for what you have and it’s OBVIOUS!!

    I am so proud of you for opening up about your diabetes, and I am even more proud that you did WHAT EVERYONE SHOULD if they find out this news and you changed your lifestyle around to make yourself healthier! I worked with a girl that was recently diagnosed with diabetes, and she continues to eat SHIT and relies on her insulin to balance her out. Her diet it making it worse! I just want to shake her. You are amazing and I am so glad you wrote this post!

  25. Constantly read your blog and can’t believe someone went out of their way to hate on you. Rude. keep on kickin it chickie 🙂

  26. I LOVE YOU!!! This post was seriously amazing! I think the fact that discovered you were diagnosed with diabetes and then totally uphauled your life to make healthy changes speaks bundles about the person you are. And as far as the hate blog sites, its so juvenile that people find their lives so unfulfilling that they need to bring others down. But on the flipside, you are in the company of a ton of very accomplished bloggers, so I think it just means you are kinda a big deal 🙂

  27. I am a frequent GOMI reader but I don’t think you should have been posted about. Many of the blogs who are written about act a certain way online and aim to portray themselves a certain way for their readers, but it’s easy to see through that. I think those blogs merit discussion because it’s frustrating that people read those blogs and think that’s how they’re actually living their lives. You seem like a completely normal person and very genuine. I think GOMI posters picked out one behavior (a lot of exercise) and made their own judgment about you based on that without taking into account any other information. Props to you for addressing this, clearly if you had something to hide or did have any sort of disordered behaviors you probably wouldn’t be discussing your life and your health so candidly. For me you’re definitely a SOMI! And thank you again for sharing your story and good for you for handling the negative comments so well. Criticism is difficult to handle especially in an arena as public as the internet.

    1. Kate, I cannot thank you enough for coming over from GOMI and commenting. I can see why that I am compared to a lot of causal runners (because I’m not an “accomplished” runner if that even makes sense) so exercising as much as I do might loo a bit crazy.

      I agree though, some of the posts and threads on GOMI are very accurate and I want to raise my drink to that and others I’m shaking my head a bit. Have a great week!

  28. I think you handled this situation very maturely, and even though this post was really hard to write, I appreciate your honesty. Also, I hope you don’t really feel a need to cater to the trolls on your blog. I mean, it’s really not my place to ask that of you, but sometimes people don’t like another person for who knows what reasons. When I was in high school, I was told that another girl on my track team said that my voice “sounded like someone was taking a knife to her ears”. This was a girl who I rarely encountered and never did anything to slight, at least directly. Why did she say such a nasty thing? Who knows…. She could have chosen to just ignore me, and then I would have been none the wiser. Now, I will remember her for a while, and appreciate that she taught me to just move along and meet other people who wanted to get to know me.

    1. Thanks Emma and your words mean a lot. I have actually had similar things said about my voice as well. Maybe that means we are destined to be BFFERS! ha.

  29. No words. I’m sorry you are faced with this but it’s refreshing to realize that those haters know nothing about you, your life, and how you live it. The basis of these silly online forums lie on perceptions of what people “think” they see when they read one’s blog, and many people are clearly delusional based on their accusations. Ignore it. It’s all so dumb that you should just laugh at it and move on with your life. I love the way you approached this entire situation…props to you girl!!! You’re awesome :):)

  30. GOOD FOR YOU!! I’m so glad you posted this. People hate because they’re jealous. I’m glad you put the truth out there about yourself (as you always have) but really explained it. I hope it shuts them up! And as for those people.. if they really hate your blog that much why the heck are they still reading it!? Go find something you do like to read!! Keep blogging and posting– because I love it!

  31. I don’t know how I Missed this last week but… you’re awesome. Just wanted to make sure I said that!

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